10 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Your App

Mobile apps are the cornerstone of business these days. They help to market products, improve customer experience and boost consumer loyalty. Almost every business is now busy creating its own apps. But the development of a successful app starts with knowing where to find good and reliable app developers. And in today’s over-saturated mobile app market, that can be a huge challenge.

Here are 10 common mistakes businesses make when choosing the developers to realize their app idea.

1. No Credentials Verification

Hiring a company without verifying their credentials is a risky move. Do you know how many apps they developed in the past? Who were their previous clients? Can they provide you with referrals?

Find the apps the company developed and download them to get a taste of the quality and look. If the apps don’t match your expectations, look elsewhere.

2. Picking Cheap Offers

All businesses take project cost into account, but smart entrepreneurs who know their way around the tech industry realize that it can’t be the decisive factor in selecting app developers.

Skills and experience are more important than low price. Don’t forget that your niche is full of apps, so a poorly-developed product won’t help you build a strong presence, becoming a loss of your money anyway.

3. Choosing speed over quality

Mobile app development process is a complex operation. It takes plenty of time and requires the expertise of many people – from developers to testers, UX designers, and product managers.

If a developer company promises to develop your app within a week, better keep on looking. Developing a solid product that serves your business needs and matches the expectations of your audience simply takes time.

4. Lack of Testing or Quality Assurance

Testing is a critical stage of app development. And many companies forget about that when they’re desperate to publish their app as soon as possible.

But do you really want to give your audience a buggy product?

If the developer company doesn’t include testing and QA, you might end up with a buggy app that takes plenty of time and money to get fixed.

5. Picking a Developer Without Niche Experience

It’s smart to hire developers who know your niche and have previously collaborated with similar businesses.

They know your target audience. They’re aware of critical industry trends. They’ll know how to create a product that engages and converts people in your niche.

Joining forces with a company that has a very vague idea about your sector, you risk developing an app that doesn’t match the expectations of your target.

6. Paying Up Front

If a company asks you to pay up front, you can consider that a red flag.

An app development project should be divided into a series of iterations, each of which is delivered in full before you pay for it. You wouldn’t want to pay for a cat in a bag, right?

Don’t forget to make sure that the agreement between you and the developer company clearly states that you’ll become the owner of the code.

7. No UX Skills

A developer with no UX skills might create an app that a large part of your target won’t be able to enjoy.

It goes without saying that UX design is critical to app success. It’s impossible to create a great product without knowing the fundamental app design principles that build great user experience.

That’s why you should pick a company that has these skills and knows how to research your target before developing the app.

8. Lack of Business Understanding

Does the developer company understand your business goals and mission?

If you got in touch with a company and presented them with a brief, you should expect them to reach out to you and ask for more details.

Are developers interested in your business objectives, customer base, or industry? If so, it’s a good sign. However, if they aren’t asking any questions, it’s time to drop them and move on.

9. Picking Local Developers

Narrowing down your choice to local developers is a huge mistake.

It doesn’t really matter whether you app is built 50 or 5000 miles away from your location. What counts is the professionalism and skill set of the developer company.

App development standards have a global reach today, so don’t be afraid to hire a developer company located in another country or continent.

10. Forgetting About Product Life Cycle

Apps need to upgraded as time passes. And bugs need to be fixed as soon as they appear.

When negotiating your contract with the developer company, don’t forget about the future of your app. Include future support and fixes in your agreement.

It pays to know how not to be screwed by app development companies. This list of 10 cardinal mistakes business make when negotiating with app developers will help you avoid them and create an amazing product that will win you plenty of new customers and take your brand to the next level.

Guest Author: Thomas is an app developer at Ready4s and a fan of everything software and mobile-related. When he isn’t working on new apps he likes to share his views by writing tech articles.